


Do Your Worst

by DimensionSlip



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Illustrated by Jeredu, M/M, Sex Toys Under Clothing, aka whose fault this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 12:50:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12817899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DimensionSlip/pseuds/DimensionSlip
Summary: Jade has more pressing issues to deal with than the minor food crisis going down in Engeve.





	Do Your Worst

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jeredu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeredu/gifts).



> Loose sequel to [_Easier Said Than Done_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12257118), though reading that one-shot isn't exactly necessary to understand what is going on here.

"Do your worst."

It's those three words that have sealed Jade Curtiss's fate and spelled his doom as he listens in on a meeting whose contents barely register in his mind anymore at that point, too preoccupied with dealing with an issue more dire than the minor food crisis going down in Engeve.

He effects a gaze that seemingly looks on dead ahead, as if deeply reflecting on something more pressing than the matter being discussed by General Glenn McGovern, who sounded like he had a few prime words to say about the incident in relation to something going on around St. Binah. But what no one had words for is the matter going on between his legs, except perhaps for the instigator of this whole mess, whose gaze is being avoided by Jade on purpose that very moment.

At the very least, General McGovern isn't seated by the head of the table, so it's easy for Jade to pretend that a certain Peony Upala Malkuth IX does not exist, and concentrate on that rather interesting crack along the wall, which is convenient situated behind the meeting's current active speaker. Jade lets out a small breath through his nose, none too really eye-catching as he subtly shifts in his seat, trying not to pay attention to the vibrator inside of him, which is currently playing around the stretch of what Jade takes to be several low to medium levels, with no rhyme or reason to it except the whims of the person holding the controller.

In some ways, it's a little morbidly fascinating how a simple change in tactics have transformed the face of the proverbial battlefield, but at the same time, not as much when one is the subject of such a change. Especially when it's of the unpredictable sort, and one where his adversary of a kind is someone who greedily takes every advantage he could get, and is merciless in his pursuit of a desired outcome.

Which, in a way, begs the question of why he agreed to this arrangement again the second time around, knowing full well how the first one went down. But pride and a competitive side is something of a deadly combination, and even with his intimate--in more ways than one--knowledge of how a certain emperor ticked, it wasn't quite enough to prepare him for what Peony has planned, nor could he have predicted how his body would take to it.

He's very much determined from their first round that his body can endure all levels, even if things do increase in difficulty as the intensity of the vibrations escalate. It's been a matter of adapting to the levels as they come, which is something Jade has been able to do with minimal giveaways on his end.

That's where the problem lies, and the weakness that Jade never knew and Peony sought to take advantage of. Giving Jade no time to adjust to one particular intensity has left him tense more than ever, somehow missing the steady vibrations from the last round. The changes in power force him to be on guard against the last strongest level that Peony chooses to throw at him, which is a task made even more difficult by how subtly he increases it as he cycles through a not-too predetermined range.

Adapting is something Jade specializes in, but it's matters like this that remind him that he's only human, and that he can't hold out forever in these kinds of conditions.

He grits his teeth as General McGovern seats himself and General Nordheim takes the lead again. The latter is seated by the head of the table, and makes it more difficult to keep Peony out of his line of sight. Peony's expression seems to be level enough to the casual observer, but the tiniest of smiles curve his lips when he catches Jade looking at him from the corner of his eye--an act that he takes to be a sign to up the ante again.

Jade sucks in a breath as the vibrator continues to thrum silently inside of him, ebbing ever so slightly, only to return with a menace a few seconds later. The cycle repeats several more times as Nordheim continues with his report, with Jade balling his fist tightly as he struggles to keep his body's reactions under wraps. There's no mistaking the stirring in his groin, his arousal aching against his all too tight belt, as with the pre-come that has started to make itself known while he stiffly looks ahead in a manner he hopes to be unassuming. This meeting could not end soon enough, but as the clock in the room tells him, there's still about an hour and a half to go before he could find his literal release--a fact that sounds like it could take forever given that everything thus far has taken place only in a span of 30 minutes.

* * *

The meeting has gone on long enough, or so Jade thinks. A stolen glance towards the clock thankfully corroborates his thoughts--just 15 more minutes to go, and he could take care of this business between his legs--

\--But Peony, it would seem, has other ideas, and it's around this time that he's decided to drive the vibrator all the way to max. Which wouldn't be as much of a problem, had it not been for the fact that he lowers it all the way down, then up again. Down and up is the name of the game that Peony is playing, and at the expense of Jade's composure as he increases its tempo, bringing him close to release and away again, like waves pulling away from a shore of sin over and over.

With an almost pained breath, he composes his expression into a frown--the best he could do over his already folded hands and propped elbows on the desk given that a level mask is nigh impossible at this point. It takes an extraordinary amount of willpower for him not to roll his hips at the continued contact, simply looking on ahead as he wills General Nordheim to finish with his spirited report on the monster situation around Engeve.

He's never been so thankful that this particular meeting doesn't require any input from him and simply needs his ear, though the worried look that Chief of Staff Sesemann is throwing him is concerning in a different manner, and isn't being helped by how he's shifted his hands from a simple fold to a white-knuckled grip only covered up by his gloves. While he hasn't abandoned all sense of propriety, he's still hard-pressed to battle against the sweet pleasure welling in his core, which he would give anything to cave to if his circumstances were only better and more bereft of consequences.

 _Five minutes_ , the clock tells him, but his body shares another story--that of limits being reached, and of tensions nigh indescribable, tight against his stomach as he works on not letting go of himself just yet, repeating a mental mantra that it's only for _this_ much longer that he has to endure this. Just a little more to go, and he can properly excuse himself and take care of things away from many prying eyes.

However, it's also around that time he makes his biggest mistake since this meeting started, to his grave undoing.

As General Nordheim nods and gestures towards Peony, Jade follows his gaze, eventually meeting Peony's eyes--a move that he's purposely avoided since this meeting started. The moment between them is unjustly electric, and the smallest of smirks play on Peony's lips before he lazily turns the vibrator down, then rolls it up all the way to maximum and leaves it there.

Jade tears his gaze away from the hungry and knowing look on Peony's face, already certain that the other is aware of his predicament and state thereof. Not that it helps his situation any, given how strongly the toy pulses inside of him, his body strangely responsive to this particular brand of play.

_It can't be helped._

With a bite of his lower lip, he leans slightly forward on his elbows and lifts his hips off the chair by an inch, coming as Sesemann begins wrapping up the meeting. 

Jade lowers himself back into his chair, not at all embarrassed but still feeling oddly limp as the knots in his stomach begin unwinding. He can't feel completely relieved, however, given that the vibrator still buzzes faintly inside of him, almost as if its owner had other plans even after getting what he wanted.

Needless to say, this game, set, and match goes to Peony, much as he loathes to admit it. A lesson learned, and perhaps next time he'll be more careful about indulging any of Peony's whimsies--if there'll be a next time, that is.

* * *

"Wasn't that fun?"

Inside the Malkuth Imperial Chambers, Peony, smiling widely, turns to Jade as he spreads his arms wide in a telling gesture.

"For you, perhaps," Jade says smoothly as he loosens his belt and pulls down his tights with no ounce of shame about the action, pulling out the vibrator with a small pop as he discards it among Peony's belongings on the floor. However, he doesn't do the same for his tights, pulling them back up even in their soiled state, "You certainly were very enthusiastic after Chief of Staff Sesemann started asking after my well-being."

"Come on, even if you lost, you gotta admit this meeting was a lot more interesting!"

"I can concede that point," he relents as he redoes his belt. Once he's done, Jade directs his gaze back at Peony and glances pointedly downwards, brow raised as he processes the discreet, yet very much there, tent between Peony's legs. He meets Peony's eye after that, and after a lengthy moment's consideration of that and the sultry look about the latter, turns on his heel and begins to walk away and out of the room.

He doesn't need to turn back to see the crestfallen look that falls over Peony's face--the shouts that follow after him are more than enough, music to his ears as he grins to himself and goes about his easy task of outrunning a rock-hard Peony. Revenge truly is a dish best served cold, and it's something of a specialty for him at this point.


End file.
